The Colored Museum

MAY 20-JUNE 5

Fridays & Saturdays 8PM; Sundays 3PM

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The Colored Museum has electrified, discomforted, and delighted audiences of all colors, redefining our ideas of what it means to be Black in contemporary America. Its eleven “exhibits” undermine Black stereotypes old and new and return to the facts of what being Black means.

The production is directed in a fresh, relevant new way for The Umbrella Stage Company by versatile director, dramaturge, educator, writer and collaborator Pascale Florestal, recently spotlighted in WBUR’s “2021 Artery 25: Artists Of Color Transforming The Cultural Landscape“.

Alternately stinging and hysterically funny, the show was created by award-winning playwright George C. Wolfe, praised by The New York Times as “the kind of satirist, almost unheard of in today’s timid theater, who takes no prisoners,” and who “says the unthinkable, says it with uncompromising wit.”

While seriously tackling the racial legacy of America’s history, the play does so with defiant humor. Sketches parody everything from classic Black theater and fashion models to sell-out businessmen and wigs, and are laced with wisecracks about popular culture and lively music by Kysia Bostic. It also challenges traditional notions of the museum or cultural institution itself.

In addition to theater talkbacks, the show experience will intersect with other programs at The Umbrella, including “The Colored Museum: Past/Present/Future” exhibition, a mixed media group show featuring work by 10 emerging and established contemporary Black artists curated by Cedric Vise1 Douglas; a pre-matinee African-American History Walking Tour of Concord every Sunday; partner activities with The Robbins House; and other community events.

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Tickets range from $15 Students to Maximum of $44 Regular Adult. Discounts for Seniors and Military available. The Umbrella proudly participates in the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Card-to-Culture, providing discounted entry for EBT, WIC, and ConnectorCare cardholders. Call 978-371-0820 x209 or see  https://theumbrellaarts.org/boxoffice for details. Free parking is available.

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RELATED SPECIAL EVENTS

VISUAL ARTS RECEPTION: Join us for an interactive experience of The Colored Museum: Past/Present/Future at 40 Stow Street on Sunday May 22, between 5-8PM, immediately following the opening Sunday matinee performance of The Colored Museum. Meet and celebrate the artists, participate in special one-day-only participatory installations, enjoy refreshments and music by DJ Bob Diesel.

SUNDAY WALKING TOURS: Go deeper into Concord’s Black history! The Concord Visitor Center, The Robbins House and The Umbrella Arts Center have teamed up for a special “June Journeys” edition of the Town’s expert-guided African-American History of Concord Walking Tour before visit the exhibition and seeing the play. Reserve in advance when booking tickets to The Colored Museum Sunday May 22, May 29 or June 5. Tours meet at The Umbrella 1:00PM.

THE ROBBINS HOUSE TALKBACK: May 29 immediately following the play, stay for a panel discussion with experts from The Robbins House, a nonprofit dedicated to sharing Concord’s African, African American, and antislavery history from the 17th through the 19th centuries.

COLLABORATORS TALKBACK: June 5 immediately following the closing performance of the play, exhibition curator Cedric Vise1 Douglas and theater director Pascale Florestal will be joined by journalist Jacquinn Sinclair for a talkback on art, race, and their collaboration exploring themes in The Colored Museum.